Monday’s Den: Wrapping up an NFL Sunday……

Saints 45, Rams 35— New Orleans had 18 first downs, three TD’s on its first 32 plays in this game; then they blew a 35-14 lead- wild game, but they pulled away late. Saints have won their last seven games; average total in their four home games is 67.3.

Former NFL ref Gene Steratore posted this Sunday morning:

“Through Week 8, the average number of penalties accepted per game is 13.4- that is the fewest since 2013. Despite what most may think, the refs are letting them play this season.”

Vikings 24, Lions 9— Minnesota is now 10-0 vs spread (9-1 SU) in its last nine pre-bye games; they’ve won four of last five games. Yardage in this game was just 283-209, and game was indoors. Under Zimmer, Minnesota is 21-7 as home favorites, 3-2 this year.

Vikings sacked Stafford 10 times; in its last two games, Detroit has run ball for 34-66 yards. Obviously, they’ve got some issues on the offensive line.

Chiefs 37, Browns 21— Cleveland looked better on offense with Kitchens calling plays, but Kansas City has it rolling right now- KC averaged 10.6 yards/pass attempt, had an 11-yard edge in field position. Chiefs had a 499-388 edge in yardage.

Chiefs won/covered 8 of their last 9 games; they’re 10-3 in last 13 games as road favorites.Cleveland is 6-16-1 in its last 23 games as a home dog; they lost last four games, giving up an average of 33.5 ppg.

Steelers 23, Ravens 16— One of key plays in this game was a 22-yard pass by backup QB Dobbs to Smith-Schuster when Steelers were backed up on own 5-yard line with 20-13 lead and 12:35 left to play- drive ended in a clinching FG. It was Dobbs’ only play of the game. This was just second win for Steelers in their last six visits here.

Pittsburgh converted 10-16 on third down, outgained Baltimore 395-268 in a game with no turnovers. Ravens lost their last three games, are 4-5 heading into their bye week.

Panthers 42, Buccaneers 28— Three of Carolina’s six TD’s came on drives of 42 or fewer yards; Panthers ran ball for 179 yards, are looking strong- they’re a game behind New Orleans in NFC South- teams have two meetings coming up.

In their last six games, Bucs are an astounding minus-17 in turnovers. Over is 7-1 in Tampa Bay games; hard to believe the Bucs won’t be cleaning house again when this season ends- they allowed 30+ points in five of their last six games.

Dolphins 13, Jets 6— This was an unusual boxscore:
— Jets’ offense ran 64 plays; they were outscored on those 7-6 by Miami’s defense.
— Neither team scored an offensive touchdown.
— Total yardage was 282-168, Jets- Miami had only 7 first downs.
— Teams combined to convert only five of 29 third down plays.
— There was only one play the whole game inside either team’s red zone.
— Not many team go +4 in turnovers and score only 13 points.

Bears 41, Bills 9— This was an even more unusual boxscore:
— Chicago led 28-0 at the half; their defense scored two of the TD’s.
— The other two first half TD’s came on drives of only 37-23 yards.
— Total yardage was 264-190 Bills, and they lost by 32 points.
— Bills turned ball over four times (-3); Bears had 18-yard edge in field position, and thats not counting their two defensive TD’s.
— What Buffalo has done this year is just astoundingly bad; they made the playoffs LY for first time in 19 years, but quickly traded LY’s QB and are now the worst team in the NFL.
— New England’s three AFC East rivals scored a total of 28 points Sunday.

Falcons 38, Redskins 14— Atlanta was 10-13 on third down in this game; they’ve converted 42 of last 68 third down plays- this was their first win in three outdoor games this season.

NFC East teams are 1-8 vs spread as non-divisional favorites this season. Washington leads that division with an unimpressive 5-3 record.

Texans 19, Broncos 17— Houston is first team since the 1970 New York Giants to start a season 0-3, then win their next six games. Broncos missed a 51-yard FG wide right in the last minute.

Denver lost six of its last seven games, appears headed to its first consecutive losing seasons since the mid-70’s- they’re 2-5-2 in last nine games as home favorites. Under is 4-1 in last five Houston games, 6-2 in last eight Denver games.

Chargers 25, Seahawks 17— Seattle is now 1-8 vs spread in last nine games as home favorites. Chargers won their last five games overall- they won here despite converting on only 2-9 third down plays, and missing three of four PAT’s. Bolts are now 4-0 outside Los Angeles.

Patriots 31, Packers 17— Game was tied after three quarters; Green Bay had the ball on the New England 28-yard line- they were driving. First play of the fourth quarter, Aaron Jones loses a fumble, and that ended that- Green Bay was useless the rest of the game.

New England won its last six games, is 5-0 at home (4-1 as HF)- they’re 26-12-3 vs spread in last 41 games as a home favorite.

Mike McCarthy played college football (TE) at Baker University in Kansas; his dad was a fireman and bar owner in Pittsburgh. He is 134-82-2 as an NFL head coach, but he’s had Favre/Rodgers as his starting quarterbacks during that time. Pretty good gig.

Hell, what would Jeff Fisher’s record be if he had Favre/Rodgers? Fisher went 178-171-1 as an NFL head coach, with no one near as good as Favre/Rodgers at QB.